This is what it was like to be President Obama's 'surrogate son' and 'chief of stuff'
He became my boss, and then the President of the United State, and I became what he dubbed his "i Reggie," his go-to source for all critical, nonpolitical information.
From dawn to what was often the middle of the night, I was a witness not only to history, but to a side of the man few got to see.
An attentive father, a devoted husband, a trash-talking basketball player, a feisty card shark, a loyal and thoughtful friend with a wicked sense of humor.
We became friends, eventually even something close to family. I carried snacks and the luggage, babysat for the children of world leaders, prepped the teleprompter and the operator, and handled a million other tasks that came up on the fly.
Most of all, I listened.
Because I was not part of the political process, in many ways I became the President's touchstone for normalcy. His window onto the outside world.
We played basketball together. (A lot of basketball.) We played cards. We debated the merits of Tony Parker and rehashed Mad Men plotlines. We watched ESPN. I would occasionally let fly with an expletive when we talked. So did he. The subject was usually basketball.
The White HousePresident Barack Obama shoots hoops with his personal aide, Reggie Love, at the White House Basketball Court, Jan. 18, 2010. I was twenty-one years younger than him. We didn't have a lot in common in terms of life experience, but what we did share was safe ground. I wasn't going to question him about the economy or deliver bad news about the polls.
I was able to see through a rare window that others did not.
Republished with permission from "Power Forward: My Presidential Education" by Reggie Love. Copyright © 2015 by Reggie Love. Reprinted by arrangement with Simon and Schuster. All rights reserved.